The Productive Ward: encouraging teambuilding and innovation

Abstract

The aim of the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement's Productive Ward series is to remove wasteful activities from ward processes and reinvest the time saved in making care more interactive, stimulating, reliable and safe. This article describes how the introduction of Productive Ward on one unit in a mental health trust has delivered improvements in general ward organisation and a range of ward processes, and has motivated and empowered team members to make changes and innovate. The article also describes leadership and teamworking lessons that the ward matron and project facilitator have learnt.

The Productive Ward: Releasing Time to Care™ - What we can learn from the literature for implementation

“…Coutts () outlined the need for a robust and intense information campaign to counter the negative job‐cut rumours that accompany improvement initiatives such as ‘Releasing Time to Care’. Similar convincing communication challenges in relation to change and the Productive Ward have been described by Armitage and Higham () and Blakemore ().…”

“…One of Armitage and Higham's () learning points with implementation is the need for careful project management as interest in the project naturally reaches ‘highs and lows’. Allowing for these changes in the level of interest with the project and accepting them enabled their Productive Ward initiative to continue.…”

“…Armitage and Higham () view the role of leadership at ward level as one of the biggest influences on how well the Productive Ward is introduced. They outline how the timing of introducing the initiative was crucial.…”

“…The absence of strong leadership from senior management has caused problems during implementation in Saskatchewan, manifesting itself in slow funding responses and irregular visits from senior managers to implementation sites (Coutts 2010). Armitage and Higham (2011) view the role of leadership at ward level as one of the biggest influences on how well the Productive Ward is introduced. They outline how the timing of introducing the initiative was crucial.…”

Time to care: a patient‐centered quality improvement strategy

“…She summarized that core LHS 26,3 concepts concentrated on streamlining ward processes, systems and environments based on explicit input of clinical nurses. Armitage and Higham (2011) distinguish between the foundation and process modules. There are three foundation modules that include knowing how we are doing, the well-organized ward, and patient status at a glance.…”